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\ BRIEF TREATISE 



PRINCIPLES AND ADVANTAGES 



ELOCUTION 



By JOHN FORRESTER FOOT. 



BRIEF TREATISE 



PRINCIPLES AND ADVANTAGES 



ELOCUTION. 



"If nature unassisted couid form the eminent speaker, where were the use of art or culture, 
which yet no one pretends to question? Art is but nature improved and refined ; and before 
improvement is applied, genius is but a mass of ore in the mine, without lustre, and without 
value, because unknown and unthought o/." 

James Burgh, Author of the Dignity of Human Nature, Sec. <$-c 



AX 
By JOHN FORRESTER FOOT. 



NEW-YORK: 

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, AND PUBLISHED BY 
PEABODY & Co. 219 BROADWAY, 

AND 

GEORGE LONG, 161 BROADWAY 

PRICE 37i CENTS. 



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<? 



" Entered according to Act of Congress, the 6th day of November, in the year 
1833, by John Forrester. Foot, in the Office of the Clerk of the Southern 
District of New- York." 



G. F. Hopkins & Son, Print. 



A BRIEF TREATISE 



PRINCIPLES AND ADVANTAGES 



ELOCUTION. 



When I first entertained the idea of announcing my inten- 
tion to take a limited number of pupils, I declined offering a 
regular course of Lectures on the principles and advantages 
of Elocution, from a conviction that little more was left to 
me than to recapitulate what had been already so ably advan- 
ced by Sheridan, Walker, and others ; whose lectures, for 
the most part, had been printed, and are well worthy the 
perusal of all who are desirous of becoming proficients in a 
polished and classical delivery. 



Indeed, so highly have I ever esteemed the merit of their 
united labours, that, for some time, I was in doubt whether 
I could better advance my practice, or promote the object I 
had in view, than by offering them as a general standard, by 
which I professed to submit my mode of instruction to the 
notice of the public. Yet, upon mature reflection, I considered, 
that however excellent they may be as general rules, they 
might not always apply to particular cases coming under my 
own immediate view. I shall now, therefore, submit some 



brief ideas of what I conceive to be the principal elements 
of elocution ; and afterwards point out the advantages to be 
derived from their study. 



Elocution consists in a just and harmonious management 
of the voice, accompanied by graceful and appropriate ges- 
ture and action; and I shall here enumerate the requisites 
for the attainment of perfection in the above particulars. 

A just and harmonious management of the voice depends 
on articulation, pronunciation, accent, emphasis, pauses and 
stops, and inflexion of tones or notes. 

First, on articulation, as by this we give to every letter in 
a syllable its due proportion of sound, and also distinguish in 
words of more than one syllable, to which syllable each letter 
belongs. This is the only explanation given by all the wri- 
ters I have read upon the subject. 

On this head, I would remark, that, in giving every letter 
in a syllable its due proportion of sound, it seems to be the 
first essential point towards a just delivery, so it will be 
necessary to ascertain how this power of voice can best be 
acquired. Let me then ask, whence this sound or voice 
arises ? I answer, from the lungs ; — and, next to the pre- 
servation of life, the most important use of respiration seems 
to be that of forming the voice. The organ of speech has 
always been considered as a kind of musical instrument, 
which may be compared to a flute, a hautboy, or an organ, 
and for the following reasons : — 

The trachea (or windpipe,) which begins at the root of the 
tongue, and terminates in the lungs, may be compared to the 
pipe of an organ, the lungs dilating like bellows during the 
time of inspiration ; and, as the air is drawn out from them 
in expiration, it finds its passage straightened by the cartila- 
ges of the larynx, (or upper part of the trachea,) against which 
it strikes. These cartilages being elastic, occasion, in their 
turn, more or less vibration in the air, and thus produce the 



sound of the voice ; — the variation in which must depend 
on the state of the glottis, (being the head of the trachea and 
aperture of the larynx,) which, when straightened, produces 
an acute tone, but a grave one when dilated. 

Now, let me ask, if by the most learned, the organ of 
speech has ever been considered as a kind of musical instru- 
ment, why may we not form a speaking as well as musical 
gamut, or, at least, something very nearly resembling it? 

I hope I shall be pardoned for dwelling on this part of the 
subject, as it has been upon this very principle, that I can boast 
of having formed powerful as well as harmonious voices in 
the several pupils in England, who entrusted themselves to 
my care ; I, therefore, have proofs to support my theory. 

Before I proceed further, let me be permitted to pay my 
most ardent tribute of respect to an author of unquestionable 
ability : — I mean Dr. Rush of Philadelphia. He has treated 
this part of the subject with the most philosophic precision. 
I shall not presume to contend with him for priority, though I 
can confidently assert that the above has been the foundation 
of my practice for fourteen years. It is sufficient to gratify 
my vanity, that I could ever have considered the subject in 
the same view with that accomplished gentleman and enlight- 
ened scholar. 

But to continue : — If, by a musical gamut, we imply a 
scale of musical notes, why will not the other procure a scale 
of speaking tones ? 

Something of this sort, indeed, has been urged by Walker, 
in his " Elements of Elocution," and in his " Rhetorical Gram- 
mar," under the article of " Theory of the Inflexions of the 
Voice," and which he illustrates by plates of rising and falling 
lines. 

" The two slides, or inflexions of voice, therefore, are the 
axes, as it were, on which force, variety, and harmony of 
speaking turns." 

" All vocal sounds may be divided into two kinds : — ■ 
namely, speaking sounds and musical sounds. Musical 
sounds are such as continue a given t ime on one precise point 



of the musical scale, and leap, as it were, from one note to 
another ; — while speaking sounds, instead of dwelling on the 
note they begin with, slide either upwards or downwards, to 
the neighbouring notes, without any perceptible rest on any ; 
— so that speaking and musical sounds are essentially dis- 
tinct ; the former being constantly in motion from the moment 
they commence, the latter being at rest from some given 
time in one precise note." 

"It may not, perhaps, be altogether useless to observe, 
that these angular lines may be considered as a kind of bars 
in the music of speaking." — Walker's Elements and Smith's 
Harmonies. 

But, be it remembered, that this theory is not advanced, 
till he is speaking of whole sentences; thereby presuming, 
that quality of voice is already obtained, though he has not 
given us to understand the direct principle. What I assert 
is, that this speaking gamut, employed e principw, forms the 
very pivot on which good and distinct articulation in words, 
nay, in syllables, depends. I will endeavour to prove it, by 
first asking, " What are those letters of the alphabet most 
necessary to be distinctly heard ? Most unquestionably the 
vowels. — Why ? Because no word can be formed without 
one or more ; and the vowel may be said to be the soul, as 
the consonants form the body of a word. 

As the first step to form a distinct and powerful voice, I 
recommend a free and frequent sound of each vowel by itself, 
beginning in the lowest tone, and gradually rising to the up- 
per tones, or vice versa. This will appear the more neces- 
sary, when it is considered, that the consonants themselves 
require the aid of a vowel, either before or after them, to 
give them their true pronunciation. 

be k ai e r 

c e el e s 

d e em t e 

e f en v e 

g e p e ex 

It is also absolutely necessary, that the consonants should, 



by themselves, be clearly and frequently sounded ; for the 
neglect of this practice forms one of the most prevalent causes 
of indistinctness, more especially in the terminations of words. 
The conjunction and is but too commonly pronounced an ; 
- — you an I, instead of you anc? I. Those who, by bad exam- 
ple or negligence, have been seduced into a careless manner 
of delivery, would reap much benefit by a slow and loud 
repetition of sentences, by single words, without any regard 
to point or connexion, till they acquire the free and full 
sound of each word ; and this would better be practised in 
the presence of some literary friend. 



To attain a yist pronunciation, which consists in uttering each 
syllable, and general connexion of a word, in the most appro- 
ved manner, the best authorities ought to be consulted ; and 
happy it is for the cause of literature in general, and elocu- 
tion in particular, that Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary 
may be referred to as a certain standard of polite and clas- 
sical delivery. To that work all persons addicted to provin- 
cialisms are most urgently referred ; and, as the English Ian- 
guage is composed from so many different primitive tongues, 
reasoning by analogy must necessarily yield to the force of 
custom. 

I cannot conclude this part of my subject without acknow- 
ledging the merit of many of the alterations submitted by 
Webster in his different editions of Spelling Books and Dic- 
tionaries. He appears to be a gentleman of indefatigable 
industry and research, and his works having received the 
sanction of so many literary and scientific characters of this 
country, I cannot, without more mature consideration, totally 
dissent from many of his alterations. Yet I must be permit- 
ted to observe, that he not only differs with Walker, John- 
son, Sheridan, and others, but very frequently with himself. 
Some, nay, very many, of his errors and inconsistencies are 
ably pointed out in a pamphlet by Mr. Lyman Cobb, 



Whatever may have been the precise meaning attached to 
accent by the ancients, and of which, indeed, among some 
modern scholastics, there still remains a considerable diver- 
sity of opinion, yet, in the English language, I conceive it is 
nothing more than the means by which we point out the 
particular syllable in a word, on which a stress is to be laid, 
for the purpose of division, or distinction from words simi- 
larly spelt ; and to make its quantity long or short ; as also 
to ascertain whether the stress ought to attach itself to a 
vowel or consonant ; and this is most material, as, to the 
non-observance of this, we may attribute many of the errors 
into which most provincials, but particularly the Scotch, 
generally fall. I could dwell for some time on this subject, 
but shall reserve my further remarks for those who may think 
proper to entrust me with their tuition. 

Emphasis bears relation to words or parts of sentences as 
accent does to syllables, and gives due effect to the construc- 
tion and force of eveiy sentence. In verse, every syllable 
must have the same accent, and every word the same empha- 
sis as in prose. If, by observing this rule, some poetry should 
be reduced to prose, the fault must rest with the poet, not 
with the reader or speaker. Few productions of genius are 
to be found in the English language, the recital of which is 
better calculated for the display of emphasis, or for the exer- 
cise and preparation of the organs, indispensable for the 
higher graces of oratorical expression, than Collins's Ode on 
the Passions. 

Cicero has very judiciously directed, that a public speaker 
remit, from time to time, somewhat of the vehemence of his 
action, and not utter every passage with all the force he can; 
to set off, the more strongly, the more emphatical parts, as the 
painters, by means of shades properly placed, make the 
figures stand off bolder. For, if the speaker has uttered a 
weaker passage with all the energy he is master of, what is 
he to do when he comes to the most pathetic parts ? 

In the foregoing sentence, the reader will find a salutary 
rule, in which the prominent words are printed in italics. 



Mr. James Burgh, author of " The Dignity of Human Na- 
ture," &e. in his " Essay on the Art of Speaking," has given 
many excellent rules for expressing properly the principal 
passions and humour, which occur in reading and public 
speaking, and I shall conclude this part of my subject with 
transcribing some of his remarks, and observe the manner in 
which he has marked emphatic words. 

"In every sentence, there is some word, perhaps several, 
which are to be pronounced with a stronger accent or em- 
phasis, than the others. Time was, when the emphatical 
word, or words, in every sentence, were printed in italics ; 
and a great advantage it was toward understanding the sense 
of the author, especially where there was a thread of reason- 
ing carried on. But we are now grown so nice, that we 
have found the intermixture of two characters deforms the 
page, and gives it a speckled appearance. As if it were not 
of infinitely more consequence to make sure of edifying the 
reader, than of pleasing his eye. But to return to emphasis, 
— there is nothing more pedantic than too much laid upon 
trifling matter. Men of learning, especially physicians and 
divines, are apt to get into a fulsome, bombastic way of 
uttering themselves on all occasions, as if they were dictating, 
when perhaps the business is of no greater consequence than 

" What's a clock ? or, how's the wind ? 

Whose coach is that we've left behind ?" — Swift. 

" Nor can an error be more ridiculous, than some that have 
been occasioned by an emphasis placed wrong. Such was 
that of a clergyman's curate, who, having occasion to read 
in the church our Saviour's saying to the disciples, 

" fools, and slow of heart (that is, backward,) to believe all that the prophets 
have written concerning me !" — St. Luke, xxiv. 25. 

placed the emphasis upon the word believe, as if Christ had 
called them fools for believing. Upon the rector's finding 
fault, when he read it next, he placed the emphasis upon all, 
as if it had been foolish in the disciples to believe all. The 
rector again blaming this manner of placing the emphasis, 
2 



10 

the good curate accented the word prophets ; as if the pro- 
phets had been persons in no respect worthy of belief. 

" A total want of energy in expressing pathetic language is 
equally blameable. I have often been amazed how public 
speakers could bring out the strong and pathetic expressions, 
they have occasion to utter, in so cold and unanimated a man- 
ner. I happened lately to hear the tenth chapter of Joshua 
read in a church in the country. It contains the history of 
the miraculous conquest of the five kings, who arose against 
the people of Israel. The clergyman bears a very good 
character in the neighbourhood ; I was, therefore, grieved to 
hear him read so striking a piece of scripture history in a 
manner so unanimated, that it was fit to lull the whole parish 
to sleep. Particularly I shall never forget his manner of ex- 
pressing the twenty-second verse, which is the Jewish gene- 
ral's order to bring out the captive kings to slaughter: — 
' Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings 
to me out of the cave ;' which he uttered in the very manner 
he would have expressed himself, if he had said to his boy, — 
' Open my chamber door, and bring me my slippers from 
under my bed.'" 

It is not enough, as Quintilian says, to be a human crea- 
ture, to make a good speaker •„ As, on one hand, it is not true, 
that a speaker's showing himself in earnest, is alone sufficient, 
so, on the other, it is certain, that if he does not seem to be 
in earnest, he cannot but fail of his design. The enthusias- 
tic rant of the fanatic, cannot please the judicious, — it can 
only excite their laughter, or their pity. 

Dean Swift, in his Letter to a Young Clergyman,writes thus : 
" I cannot but think, that what is read differs as much from 
what is repeated without book, as a copy does from an origi- 
nal. At the same time, I am fully sensible, what an extreme 
difficulty it would be upon you to alter this ; and that if you 
did, your sermons would be much less valuable than other- 
wise, for want of time to improve and correct them. I 
would, therefore, gladly come to a compromise with you in 
this matter." 



11 

He then goes on to advise, that the young clergyman should 
write his sermons in a large fair hand, and read them over 
several times before delivering them, so as to be able, with 
the occasional help of his eyes, cast down now and then, 
upon the paper, to pronounce them with ease and force. 



The grammatical pauses and slops are generally so well 
understood, that it would be a waste of time to notice them 
particularly ; yet I submit, that, though in silent reading they 
may be adequate to the purposes for which they are designed, 
yet, in rhetorical delivery, sentences are often so long, that 
the breath requires the aid of what is called the Ccesural 
pause. This, however, cannot be too cautiously employed ; 
— for if it be too frequently admitted, and of too long a dura- 
tion, it tends to destroy the harmony, as well as confound the 
meaning of a sentence. I have been led to this latter remark, 
by my recent observation of its indiscriminate introduction 
on the stage. That transcendent genius, the late Edmund 
Kean, employed this pause with the happiest effect : — his 
servile imitators only make themselves ridiculous by its indis- 
criminate adoption. 

This fault once gave rise to a hearty laugh in the Court of 
King's Bench in Dublin. An eminent barrister had been 
speaking in reply for more than two hours, when, thinking he 
had gained the full possession of the jury by a strong asser- 
tion, he paused for awhile, before he had finished his intend- 
ed sentence : Lord Norbury, however, having made up his 
mind on the evidence of the case, rose to sum up, but was 
interrupted by the pleader, who intimated that he had not 
finished his remark. His lordship sat down, hinting that he 
feared the jury needed some relief from the learned gentle- 
man's bathos ! 



I have already advanced what I deemed necessary to the 
formation of a good voice, under the head of articulation, and 



12 

I am fully persuaded it will be found the most essential par! 
of the study of elocution. As to the inflexions of tones and 
notes, I willingly refer my readers to Walker. His rising and 
falling lines afford many useful illustrations of the practice 
he recommends. 

Young readers and speakers are apt to get into a rehear- 
sing kind of monotony, of which it is very difficult to break 
them. Monotony is holding one uniform humming sound 
through a whole speech or discourse, without rising or falling. 
Cant is, in speaking, as psalmody in music, a strain consist- 
ing of a few notes rising and falling without variation, like 
a peal of bells, let the matter change how it will. The chaunt 
with which the prose psalms are half sung, half said, in ca- 
thedrals, is the same kind of absurdity. All these are unna- 
tural, because the continually varying strain of the matter 
necessarily requires a continually varying series of sounds to 
express it. 

In the translations of French tragedies, which, for the most 
part, are descriptive, we discover a tiresome monotony and 
a pompous declamatory style ; and the numbers of these, 
with which the English theatres, for years, were inundated, 
got the actors into the same trammels. The variations of 
voice so necessary to express the different passions, were 
almost totally disregarded. It is a well known fact, that, to 
an English ear, the French actors appear to pronounce with 
too great rapidity ; a complaint much insisted on by Cibber, 
in particular, who had frequently heard the famous Baron 
upon the French stage ; and I have heard the same remarks 
on the late celebrated Talma. I have heard it stated that 
Napoleon, who was a great admirer of the latter, not unfre- 
quently repeated passages to the idol of the French stage, 
who is said to have been benefitted by the fire and variety of 
tone insisted on by the late Emperor of the French. The 
pronunciation of the genuine language of a passion is ne- 
cessarily directed by the nature of the passion, particu- 
larly by the slowness or celerity of its progress, and of 
course is susceptible of every inflexion of tone or note. Plain- 
tive passions, which are the most frequent in tragedy, having 



13 

a slow motion, dictate a slow pronunciation ; — in declama- 
tion, on the contrary, the speaker warms gradually, and, as 
he warms, he naturally accelerates his pronunciation. In 
either case, the rising and falling inflexions are necessary to 
be called into frequent action. 

To conceive and to execute are very different qualifications ; 
the first may arise from study and observation ; the latter 
must be the effect of practice, and I shall conclude this part 
on the adoption of the rising wad falling inflexions, by urging 
a strict attention to the state of the lungs ; for, if they are 
affected by cold, or impaired by any other cause, their exer- 
cise should be as lenient as possible ; and although we are 
told that Demosthenes overcame an habitual shortness of 
breath by running up mountains ; such a practice appears to 
me much better calculated for a prize-fighter than an orator. 



I come now to the last head under the General Principles 
of Elocution, namely, — 



ACTION AND GESTURE. 



These appear more difficult to be duly regulated than the art 
of speaking ; for the student's own ear, in some measure, may 
judge of the voice and its variations, but he cannot see the 
workings of his eyes or brow, or mark the motions of his limbs 
or the posture of his body, without the aid of a mirror ; and 
even then, under this disadvantage, that it represents on the 
right, what is, in fact, on the left. I have generally found, 
that when a public speaker enters fully into the spirit of his 
harangue, the hands and arms move with corresponding nerve 
and propriety ; that is, when they are left to themselves. 
At the bar, indeed, they sometimes are most unwarrantably 
used ; and I remember once hearing the late Lord Erskine 
(on being called on by a young barrister, who had spoken in 
mitigation of his client's punishment,) deliver a criticism, 
which, I think, should not be permitted to remain unknown. 



14 

" My dear Jack," said his lordship, " if Ellenborough could 
have heard what you said only, without seeing your face, or 
hearing your knuckles on the table, your client might perhaps 
have been merely fined a solitary sixpence, and liberated im- 
mediately ; but, my dear Jack, justice is not to be bullied. 
You really seemed to me, like a man, who, when he meant 
to ask pardon, held his fist in the offended party's face. For 
the future, Jack, suit the action to the word, the word to the 
action." The young barrister, evidently embarrassed, after 
a short pause, began to excuse himself; but his lordship stop- 
ped him, by saying, — " Nay, don't attempt to defend what 
your better judgment must tell you is wrong ; if you do, I 
shall think the court ought to have divided their sentence, — 
by fining your client the £200, and keeping the six month's 
confinement for yourself, in the House of Correction /" 

But gesture and action, if skilfully managed, have this great 
advantage above mere speaking, — that, by the latter, we can 
only be understood by those of our own language ; but by 
action and gesture, our thoughts and passions, whether ha- 
tred, envy, fear, love, jealousy, revenge, hope, melancholy, or 
anger, may be rendered intelligible to persons of all nations 
and languages. 

Extract from Burgh's Art of Speaking. — Though it may 
be alleged, that a great deal of gesture or action at the bar, or 
in the pulpit, especially the latter, is not wanted, nor is quite 
in character ; it is yet certain, that there is no part of man 
that has not its proper attitude. The eyes are not to be rolled 
along the ceiling, as if the speaker thought himself in duty 
bound to take care how the flies behave themselves. Nor 
are they constantly to be cast down upon the ground, as if he 
were before his judge, receiving sentence of death. Nor to 
be fixed upon one point, as if he saw a ghost. The arms of 
the preacher are not to be needlessly thrown out, as if he were 
drowning in the pulpit ; or brandished, after the manner of 
ancient pugiles, or boxers, exercising themselves by iighting 
with their own shadows, to prepare them for the Olympic 
contests. Nor, on the contrary, are his hands to be pocketed 



15 

up, nor his arms to hang by his sides, as lank as if they were 
both withered. The head is not to stand fixed, as if the speaker 
had a perpetual crick in his neck. Nor is it to nod at every 
third word, as if he were acting Jupiter, or his would-be son, 
Alexander. 

With ravish' d ears 
The monarch hears, 
Assumes the god, 
Affects to nod, 
And seems to shake the spheres. — Dry den. 

A judicious speaker is master of such a variety of decent 
and natural motions, and has such command of attitude, that 
he will not be long enough in one posture to offend the eye of 
the spectator. The matter he has to pronounce, will suggest 
the propriety of changing, from time to time, his looks, his 
posture, his motion, and tone of voice, which, if they were to 
continue too long the same, would become tedious and irksome 
to the beholders. Yet he is not to be every moment changing 
posture, like a harlequin, nor throwing his hands about, as if 
he were showing legerdemain tricks. 

Above all things, the public speaker is never to forget the 
great rule, ars est celare artem. It would be infinitely 
more pleasing to see him deliver himself with as little motion, 
and no better attitude, than those of an Egyptian mummy, than 
distorting himself into all the violations of decorum, which 
affectation produces. — Art, seen through, is execrable. 

How offensive on the stage is it to witness the distortions 
of the servile imitators of Kemble, Kean, Cooke, and Forrest? 
One, with a fine powerful natural voice, grumbles like a fly 
in a bottle, because Kemble had no voice ; another, of tall 
and masculine form, becomes a dwarf because Kean was not 
six feet high ; a third, wriggles and twists, because Cooke 
had short arms and bow legs ; and a fourth, with spindle legs 
and a childish treble voice, attempts the brawny Indian, and 
fancies his lungs stentorian. What a pity that such masters 
in their art should be libelled by such daws in peacock's fea- 
thers. 



16 

In a consummate speaker, whatever there is of corporeal 
dignity or beauty, " the majesty of the human face divine," 
the grace of action, the piercing glance, or gentle languish, 
or fiery flash of the eye ; — whatever of lively passion, or 
striking emotion of mind ; — whatever of fine imagination, of 
wise reflection, or irresistible reasoning ; — whatever of excel- 
lence in human nature, — all that the hand of the Creator has 
impressed of his own image upon the noblest creature we are 
acquainted with, all this appears in the consummate speaker 
to the highest advantage. And whoever is proof against such 
a display of all that is noble in human nature, must have 
neither eye nor ear, nor passion, nor imagination, nor taste, 
nor understanding. 



I shall now proceed to mention some of the principal im- 
pediments to the progress of elocution, and notice the most 
remarkable errors contracted by habit, and too frequently 
overlooked by those who profess to give instruction. 

It may be asked, at what period should the study of elo- 
cution commence ? I answer that, as soon as children can 
read, they ought to be instructed in the rudiments, by being 
carefully and kindly cautioned of the importance of distinct- 
ness and proper pronunciation ; — their little minds, by this 
mode, will not be harassed or perplexed, if their primitive 
instructers will but be content with the quality instead of the 
quantity of each task. I am aware, also, that parents too often 
interfere from an apprehension that the exercise may be too 
much for their tender offspring ; and that the earliest teach- 
ers, fearing to lose their scholars, by offending " Mama," are 
content merely to teach the written alphabet, and to spell 
and put syllables together just as they are written ; and should 
any one of their scholars, from timidity, or the desire of rival- 
ing competitors, contract a lisp or stutter, or be defective in 
distinctness or pronunciation, these faults are set down as 
natural impediments, or defects in the organs of speech, and 



17 

the pupils are suffered to continue in their error, and pro 
nounced incurable. 

Not much more preferable is the situation of a child, when 
sent to what is called a regular academy, to which he is 
transported without one ray of knowledge of his own lan- 
guage, and immediately involved in all the difficulties of Latin 
and Greek. Hesitation naturally increases the faults he has 
before imbibed, and, being huddled into a class, his imper- 
fections are overlooked ; and as the master does not profess 
to improve his English delivery, as soon as he can gabble a 
book of Virgil or Homer, he is pronounced an apt scholar, 
and perhaps speedily removed to some college, where he 
may become learned, but not eloquent ; for, even there, the 
prize is too often given to the swift. 

He now arrives at the period, when the errors of his edu- 
cation are more perceived, and more poignantly deplored. 
Should he be destined for the pulpit, the bar, or the senate, 
for either he finds himself deficient. He feels that, though 
he has ideas that might benefit his fellow-creatures, he can- 
not utter them, so as to make the desired impression on others ; 
and should he apply to any professor of elocution, after toil- 
ing to acquire voice, elegance, and grace, unfortunately in 
vain, because their principles are commonly not fully explained, 
or defectively understood, his lisping, his stammering, and his 
stuttering are pronounced incurable. If he ascend the pul- 
pit, he will shortly be without a congregation, and thus the 
divine truths of revelation are oftentimes kept in obscurity. 
If at the bar, he will be without a brief, or, at most, but a 
chamber counsellor ; — and, if in the senate, he must remain a 
silent orator, or, if he attempt to speak, let his matter be how- 
ever well arranged, receive the mortification of being cough- 
ed down, and aye and nay the only words he will be endured 
to utter. 

To those whose ambition may prompt them to pursue their 
studies for any of the liberal professions, the knowledge of 
the principles of elocution must be eminently desirable ; and 
even, if they should have neglected, or not duly attended to 



18 

the first grand method of establishing the powers of voice, the 
sooner they endeavour to recover their lost ground, the greater 
will be their chance of success. The longer a bad habit is 
permitted to continue, the more difficult will be its removal. 
To conclude : — If, in countries where the highest offices 
of state, the greatest preferments in the pulpit and at the bar, 
are too often confined to the descendents of already affluent 
fortunes or high connexions ; and where a seat in the repre- 
sentative assembly of the people is more frequently obtained 
by weight of purse than depth of intellect ; — if there, I say, 
the powers of oratory are felt as one of the surest paths to 
preferment and honour, what tenfold advantages must accrue 
from eloquence in a nation where the humblest citizen, by 
perseverance, integrity, and education, may ultimately become 
for a time, the representative of ALL, and by his patriotism 
and oratorical ascendency, perpetuate that glorious independ- 
ence for which his ancestors gallantly and nobly hazarded 
their lives. 



Mr. FOOT 

Respectfully informs the public in general, that he has made arrangements, by 
which he hopes to be enabled to instruct a limited number of Pupils in the 

PRINCIPLES OF ELOCUTION. 

To young Gentlemen intended for the Pulpit, or the Bar, or to Ladies and 
Gentlemen who are desirous of acquiring a correct knowledge of the Principles 
of Elocution, the most scrupulous attention will be devoted ; and the theory ad- 
vanced in his " Brief Treatise," Mr. Foot hopes will readily be confirmed by 
Practice. 

Schools regularly attended after 6 o'clock, P. M. 

Ladies or Gentlemen, who wish to consult Mr. Foot, will be waited on at their 
own residences, by signifying their intentions, in writing, at Mr. LONG'S Book- 
store, No. 161 Broadway. 



Speedily will be Published, 
AN ESSAY 

ON 

THE PRESENT STATE OF THE DRAMA. 

BY 

JOHN FORRESTER FOOT. 
AN ANALYSIS 

OF THE 

COMEDIES 

OF FHE 

MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, 

AND 

EVERY MAN IN HIS HUMOUR. 

BY THE SAME. 
A CATALOGUE 

OF 

SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES, 

PARAPHRASED IN THE 

WORKS OF SHAKSPEARE. 

BY THE SAME, 



AN ESSAY 

ON THE 

COMPARATIVE MERITS 

OF 

THE THREE GREAT ACTORS 

OF THE 
LAST HALF CENTURY, 

Messrs. KEMBLE, COOKE, and KEAN, 

In the principal characters performed by each. 
CLAVIS DRAMATICA, 

OR 

A COMPANION TO THE THEATRE: 

Being a Catalogue of all the British, to which are now added American Drama- 
tic Works, completed to the end of 1833. By John Forrester Foot, late of the 
Theatre, New- York. 

Advertisement. — The "Biographia Dramatic a, or A Companion to the Play 
House," ranks highest among the Chronicles of dramatic compositions, whether 
considered in relation to its literary merit, or to the fidelity with which it has been 
compiled. This laborious work was originally published in 1 764, by David Er- 
skine Baker; continued thence to 1782, by Isaac Reid, the commentator on 
Shakspeare ; and brought down to the end of 18 11, by Stephen Jones. In the 
last edition, the number of recorded dramas, was nearly double that contained in 
the second. This edition will bring down the history of the drama to the present 
moment ; exhibiting an increase of more than one- third additional performances ; 
many erroneous dates have been corrected, and many ascertained that were 
hitherto uncertain. 

The work is not only interesting to the lovers of the acting drama, but to lite- 
rary men generally. The chronology of the stage is identified with that of polite 
learning, and the progress of social improvement from age to age. This com- 
pendium exhibits at a glance, what is often the subject of a tedious, and some- 
times fruitless inquiry. The present edition possesses a peculiar claim to the 
attention of the American public, as it refutes an idle assertion, to which many are 
apt to give inconsiderate credit, that as yet the drama is alone confined to Europe. 
The number embodied in this work will surprise those who have paid no atten- 
tion to the subject ; comprising not only those which have been performed or 
printed, but many in manuscript, to which the present editor has had access. 

The "Clavis Dramatica" will consist of two octavo volumes, of 600 pages 
each. Price to subscribers $7, payable on delivery ; non-subscribers, $8. 



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